Hope
by RicksIlsa
Summary: Mary Margaret's POV as she searches for a way to help Henry. Takes place before the first episode. 5th and final story in my POV series.


This is the fifth, and final 'planned' story in my POV series. You'll want to read 'A Good Father', 'My Wee One', 'Changes' and 'The Deal' first. If you wanna know what I have planned next, check out the note at the end. Thanks so much for all the kind reviews. I really love writing in this fandom!

Hope

Summary: Mary Margaret's POV as she searches for a way to help Henry.

"When did you decide to become a teacher?" Henry Mills asked.

It sounded like an innocent question, but Mary Margaret could see it as the test it was. He was carefully watching her face, scrutinizing her expression and looking for something that she would have been all to happy to give him, if she knew what it was.

The two of them stood at the open window in her classroom watching the baby bluebirds fight over a worm as the the mother bird flew off to find more food.

Mary Margaret smiled at the boy, who had been visiting her every morning before the start of school since he was five years old. Teachers shouldn't have favorites, but she did. Henry was special to her in a way that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Well, I – um. I don't know, Henry. Sometimes these things just happen... Aw, the little one got the worm," she proclaimed with a smile.

The disappointment that crossed his face made her realize that she had again failed whatever test he had been giving her. If only she could understand what it was he wanted from her...

The boy's heavy sigh had her looking down at him with concern.

"What's wrong, Henry? Is – everything okay at home?" she hesitantly asked him.

Henry glared unseeingly out of the window for a moment.

"Well, she hasn't hit me again if that's what you want to know. But she still isn't telling me anything. Every time I ask her about the town, she says, 'Save it for Dr. Hopper'."

Mary Margaret pursed her lips, unsure of how to respond. Henry had talked to her at length about how 'off' the town of Storeybrooke was. He told her he felt like he was trapped in a world where everybody stayed the same except for him. That every year he got older, while the rest of the town stayed exactly the same age...

At first she had just thought he had an over-active imagination, but as more time passed he seemed to grow more bitter and isolated. There was no way she could approach the mayor about this, so Mary Margaret had gone to Dr. Hopper.

She'd always liked Archie Hopper, and had been glad to learn that he was trying to help Henry.

_"Well, I can't legally tell you much, Miss Blanchard. But I am worried about him. It's been over four years since we started our sessions and he seems to be getting progressively worse..."_

Henry sighed and turned away from the window.

"And no matter how hard I try, I can't catch Mr. Gold alone. She watches me like a hawk whenever he's around. She always knows when I try to go to his store and finds some way to stop me!" he groused, stomping toward his seat near the back of her classroom.

"And, why do you want to talk to Mr. Gold?" she asked him, wrinkling her nose.

There was something off-putting and cruel about the man who owned the pawn shop. Why anyone would willingly seek him out was beyond her.

"I told you. Remember the day we met? Mr. Gold told me I was adopted!"

Mary Margaret nodded and started placing workbooks on all of the desks.

"Oh, that's right. I think it was wrong of him to tell you that, Henry. Your mother would have told you when she thought you were ready to know. Besides, it's not like it was a secret. Everyone in town already knew," she explained, handing him his workbook.

He took it with a sigh.

"I know, but Mr. Gold said that my mom hired him to find her a child. If I'm ever going to find my real mom, he is where I should start."

"Oh, Henry. I'm not sure that's such a great idea."

But the bell rang and the room was soon full of noisy children putting away their lunches and coats and chattering as they took their seats.

Mary Margaret continued to watch Henry as the boy stared down at his workbook, ignoring the chaos around him.

The other students didn't so much as glance at him as they settled in their seats. Even in the middle of a busy classroom Henry had never looked so alone to her. His pain hurt her, in a way that suggested the bond between them had grown beyond that of teacher-student, and Mary Margaret suddenly wished that she had been the one to adopt Henry. Even if it had meant making a deal with Mr. Gold.

After school let out for the day, Mary Margaret found herself walking through the town. She hadn't really thought about where she was going until she saw the pawn shop.

Going to Dr. Hopper had not helped, and Mary Margaret just did not have the courage to face Regina Mills. Going to Henry's mother would probably just make things worse anyway.

She didn't like Mr. Gold, no one did. Though she couldn't really think of a good reason why. There was nothing specific that he had done to her personally, but every time she encountered the old man there was something inside that just made her want to get away from him.

Mary Margaret stopped just outside the shop and had to tamp down the urge to keep walking by. This was for Henry. She could be bold enough to do this for him.

The bell chimed when she pushed the door open, and the pleasant mustiness of times past assaulted her senses. Her eyes roamed over the unusual objects that lined shelves and rested in glass cases. A beam of late afternoon sunlight glinted off one of several miniature crystal ornaments that made up a beautiful mobile. The prism of light dazzled her and in her mind's eye she could see a crib that the mobile might once have hung over. Carved from cherry wood and covered with ornate designs : a perfect crib for a baby princess...

"Would you like for me to take it down so you can have a better look?"

His voice made her jump, but had effectively pulled her out of the daydream.

"Oh, no thank you," she said, voice shaking slightly.

The shopkeeper gave her a smile, and though he probably meant it to be reassuring, it only unsettled her even more than she already was.

"Well, something else then. A mirror, perhaps?" He gestured to a beautiful, round, silver antique mirror on the wall to her right.

She gave it a quick glance, but shook her head.

"Not in the market to buy? Something you'd like to sell?"

Again, Mary Margaret just shook her head, unable to make herself speak. Why was he so intimidating?

"No? Hmm, not here to buy, not here to sell... You don't owe me rent. Is it a different kind of deal you wish to make?"

She was unable to hide a shudder at the word 'deal', though she couldn't understand why that word bothered her so much.

His smile grew wider and his eyes seem to sparkle with insight. It was as if he knew why she had come, why she was so uncomfortable in his presence...

"No. Not for me, anyway," her voice didn't waver at all. She kept Henry firmly in her mind. "I'm here for Henry."

"The mayor's son?" he asked, but there was no curiosity in his eyes or voice.

He looked down at his hands, which rested atop a glass case.

"What have I to do with Henry Mills?"

Mary Margaret took a moment to get her thoughts together, and Mr. Gold waited patiently for her to continue.

"You are the one who introduced me to Henry. He has become very special to me since that day. And I... I think he needs help, but I'm not sure how to help him."

"Why come to me? Why not go to the boy's mother?" he asked, still looking down at his hands.

It was a reasonable question, one that she didn't have a good answer for.

"I don't think that would help," she tried to explain.

He looked up and cocked his head to the side.

"And how exactly do you think I could help?"

She sighed in frustration.

"I don't know. Henry said that you mentioned Regina hiring you to find him. He's a special boy, and so lonely. He wants to find his birth mother and he thinks you are the best place to start."

He was quiet, face betraying nothing.

"And you think finding this woman would be a good thing for him to do?"

"Yes. No... I don't know. All I know is that he believes it is. And I think the idea that she's out there somewhere is the only thing that keeps him sane. I'm afraid for him," she blurted out, and then quickly turned her face to wipe away a tear.

Mr. Gold was quiet for a long time. And then he nodded.

"Wait here a moment, dear."

He turned and limped through a doorway to the back of his shop, leaning heavily on his cane.

Mary Margaret wiped her eyes again and did a double take when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror that Mr. Gold had pointed out to her earlier. For a second she thought she had seen herself with long, wavy, ebony locks done up with little white flowers pinned throughout. She rubbed her eyes and looked in the mirror again. Nope, same old hair. She must have imagined it.

"Change your mind about the mirror?" His voice was teasing and when she met his eyes she felt that he knew exactly what she had seen. Or thought she saw...

"What is that?" she asked, attention captured by the big, old book he heaved onto the counter.

"A gift for Henry," he said, turning it so that she could get a better look.

She ran her hand over the soft leather binding, and gingerly flipped through the pages. It was a book of fairy tales that had been beautifully illustrated by what looked like hand painted pictures.

"It's beautiful, Mr. Gold. But I don't see how a book of old stories will help Henry," she said, closing it and looking up at the shopkeeper in confusion.

"Oh, but they're not just stories, Miss Blanchard. They are fairy tales. Special ones that will give him what he needs most right now," he explained.

"And what is that?"

"Hope."

The next morning she had the book sitting on Henry's desk when he arrived.

He stared down it for a moment then looked up at her in confusion.

"Are you giving me homework?" he asked with such trepidation she giggled.

"No, it's a gift. Something to help you feel better," she tried to explain, but even to her it sounded lame.

"Um, okay. Thank you?"

She laughed again and patted his shoulder.

"They're fairy tales, Henry. Stories with happy endings. I thought maybe they could get your mind off of things for a while. Maybe give you some hope and help you find your own happy ending."

It was the first time that Henry had ever hugged her. And not just an obligatory 'thank you' hug. He held on to her, burying his face in her stomach and squeezing her tight.

It was a 'thank you for caring about me, for recognizing my pain, for understanding, for not pushing me away' hug.

"Thank you for the book," he whispered looking up at her with moist eyes.

"You're welcome."

End

A/N: That's it for now with the POV series, but I'm still writing others, especially challenges that reference events that happen in these . So, I'm going to leave you with some coming soon teasers:

I'm working on a challenge with another author with the prompt 'tears'. It's due this weekend, so hopefully I can get it up here in the next couple of weeks.

I'm also working on a challenge that my beta, Twee, gave me. She wanted me to write an Emma/David bonding fic kind of like the 'Letting Go' one I wrote for Emma/Mary Margaret. This one is turning out to be a lot more involved and Henry and Mr. Gold are insisting on getting in on it too, so we'll see were that one goes... :-)

I do eventually plan to write the fic where Mr. Gold tells Emma he was there when Henry was born, but it might be a while before I get to it.

The last thing I have in the works is an Emma/Gold idea that isn't really all that formed in my head just yet. I'm thinking from the previews I saw for 'Skin Deep' that watching the episode will help it form... that's all I'm giving you.

If you've read this far down, then maybe you are interested in what I do next. If anyone has any ideas or challenges they'd like to issue, give it to me in a review. I can't promise I'll do it, but you never know what will get the creative juices flowing! I do better with shorter, not novel-epic pieces... :-)


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